The present invention relates to wristwatch bands and more particularly to wristbands that include a radio antenna for receiving radio signals.
The design and manufacture of conventional wristwatch bands is a well-developed art. Recently, however, electronics technology has developed to the point that it is possible to include a radio receiver in a wristwatch-like device. Such radio receivers require an antenna, and it has been found desirable to include the radio antenna in the wristband.
Such a radio receiver with an associated wristband antenna is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,713,808 (Gaskill). Other wristwatch-like devices that have associated radio antennas are shown in European Patent 339482 (Teodoridis), Japanese Patent 6446325 (assigned to NEC Corp), and Japanese Patent 63252002 (assigned to Epson Corp).
A wristband for a wrist-mounted radio receiver must satisfy a variety of functional and aesthetic requirements. First, it must implement the general functional and aesthetic features of conventional watch bands, such as adjustability, comfort and appearance. Second, it must be capable of functioning reliably as a loop antenna in the environment of a wearer's wrist. Many aspects of the latter requirement are not met in, or are potentially inconsistent with, the design considerations of a conventional watch band. Prior designs of a wristband with an integral antenna either fail to address these considerations, or do so inadequately.
Accordingly, a need remains for a design for a wristband having a radio-receiver antenna incorporated therein, which is both suitable as a watchband and reliably functional as an antenna.